out of the frying pan

So, I got back from a week vacay with DH and kids in Bethany Beach, DE. We love it there and have been there for a visit for the past 13 years, usually for a week. This year I was ready to bail after three days of rain. We were able to make it to the beach three days, but we really pushed the outer limits of what is a beach day.

DH went from DE to CA, leaving me to drive the three kiddies home. The fact that we made three stops in the first hour tells you something about the ride. The dryer in our rental broke the last night, so I had to travel across three states lugging a giant plastic bag of damp clothes. Finally back in CT, and I started the new job today. I am still debugging my childcare situation. I am a little overwhelmed with the people, personalities and case load at the new school but I am sure I will get up to speed fast.

As for knitting, I completed one and 2/3 of a pair of monkey socks with some hand dyed yarn for my 11 year old daughter. This doesn't reflect the amount of knitting I did because I frogged the first sock when it was complete because I didn't like the ways the heel was turned. Some how my gauge changed but only on the heel and I decided I hated it after I finished my decreases for the toe. So rip it went. Hopefully I will finish tonight and post it tomorrow.

Update

I ended up with two offers, and took a part time job in a therapeutic children's school. Now I am rushing to line up all my duckies. I hired a before school sitter, and the kids are registered for after school programs. My wardrobe sucks but I can't afford new work clothes yet. I guess that will have to wait for some paychecks to come in.

I have two weeks before my son is done with his "phase" in to preschool, so I will be doing some serious begging to get at least four days of coverage for him. Its a good thing he's cute! I am really excited about the job, my Connecticut social work license was finally approved, which required 2x a week phone calls to licensing people for several months. Bet they are happy to not hear from me every Tuesday and Friday. Sunday we go to the beach for a week. I am planning my vacation knitting (one sock, one BJS for my niece). If I get desperate, there is a knit shop in Bethany Beach. When we get back, I start work. Whew, it makes me tired thinking about it!

Ptoy, ptoy, ptoy

So Jews have this weird superstition that to avoid bringing bad luck by talking about something good, you spit three times on the ground. As time went on and my peeps got house proud we instead started to make this weird noise to simulate spitting. What does this have to do with knitting? Well I am having a darn good week. I had my Stitch and Bitch group over for a pot luck, yarn swap and s'more roast. We had fun, people went home with yarn different from what they came with. I know the photo sucks but we had fun.

Thursday I had a job interview that went really well, and when I called one of my references to let her know she would be getting a call about me I ended up with a job offer from the place that I worked at for 4 months this year! And my transfer of my social work license from Illinois to Connecticut (which has been stalled in bureaucracy since February) was finally approved.

Then I came home today and found my sockapalooza socks had arrived. And they are awesome, made out of Collinette Jitterbug which is one yarn I do not own. They are a perfect fit. And they are from the adorable 17 year old knitter from Finland that I originally thought I was knitting for. So as to not piss fate off, I will say it was a heck of a good week, ptoy, ptoy ptoy!

Is 11 the clusterf**ck birthday?

I thought I was crazy to invite 24 kids to celebrate my daughter's birthday. I KNEW it was crazy to plan to tie-dye with all those kids. I had no idea that things could get even crazier. With 20 kids actively engaged in preparing thier clothes for dyeing, my three year old son came up to me crying, something about bugs in or near the food. He was giving me the bad finger, which I then realized was about five times normal size. (My mom later asked if it was as big as the foam fingers at the ball park) Then I saw the swam of wasps or hornets or some angry insect, and there were several kids crying. I looked at the swarm and figured out that this was not good. The end was that the 20 girls who were at the dyeing area were okay, but there were four people stung - each getting about two bites. No one who was stung was allergic. Benedryl was drunk by all who needed it and I sprayed the hell out of the nest or hive or whatever it was. No one will forget this party! I tried but even several glasses of wine could not wipe away the memory of this.

In knitting, I am on my second sidewinder and hoping I will manage the increases with more finesse, or at least less tight!

anxious knitting

Taking this yarn from point A to point B was about as nerve wracking as knitting can be. I followed Nona's sidewinder pattern with no changes, I got gauge. Because there is no way to know if it will fit until you have done a lot of work, it requires a lot of trust in the pattern. I was surprised by how well the sock fits, now my only concern is whether there is enough yarn to knit the second sock. I guess I need to weigh the yarn.

My only disappointment is how tight the yarn got at the lifted bar increases even with an effort to keep it loose. I wonder if there is a way to finesse this?

Whoo Hoo

I am unblocked, I guess this means that nothing dirty happens here. I was one of many blogs that were erroneously blocked because "they contained elements consistent with spam blogs". My friends at blogger did not explain further but after several days it is unblocked.

I had really wanted to post last week because I was mid-dilemma about two pairs of socks. Since then with consultation from my SnB group, my monkeys were undone. They were in an opal yarn from Germany that had some serious contrast. I thought it didn't look so hot in the monkey pattern. The SnB'ers agreed and they are kaput. I made several starts at the sidewinder, and have just finished Act II. This sock is so hard for me because I will not know how it works out until it is done. The yarn choice seems good, it is from Opal Rainforest I. I will post pics later.

I was in New Hampshire to see my nephew at camp. It is his last summer, and his camp is super close to Patternworks. I bought a few things to send to my sockapalooza pal, nothing for me. So that makes only one slip from the yarn diet since January. I finally got my package from Marianne, and it was worth the wait and worth the slip!

random pics

Item number one finished, broadripple socks in cascade fixation for sockapalooza pal.

Item number two, finished Baudelaire for sockapalooza pal.

Item number three, gratuitous sock in progress shot. Now that all the knitting for my sock pal is done, I am considering my next project. I am thinking of something for -hmmmmm- me!

I am also thinking hard about what else to include in the package for my sock pal.

This and That

My latest knitting- 1 baudelaire done, one half od the second sock is done. I am seriously worried that these will not fit my sockapalooza pal. She did not give measurements but said she had generous ankles, or something like that. I know the lace has a lot of give but I don't really know what size they should be! I think I will make a second pair of footies out of fixation, so I can eliminate the ankle problem and know that they will stretch. The baudelaire socks look great, but I really want them to fit her!

Today's plan includes dentist for ds, and swim team practise for dd #1. Temperature is expected to be in the 90's, so I expect to maintain a slothlike activity level. Cooking will be minimal to non-existent, as will house work. I went to the post office on Saturday and mailed some yarn to Phyl for posting a comment to my 100th post! Hope she enjoys the choices. I went stash surfing to find goodies for her.

I want to give something away

I wanted to send a yarny gift to the 1st poster to my 100th post, but she did not leave any way to get a hold of her. She has an unlisted profile. Please let me know how to get some yarn to you or I will have to go send something to the next post!

brush with greatness

Well imagine me sitting in a playground in Brookline, working on Baudelaire when who walks by. Alison of the blue blog with her three lovely children, including the baby in a hand knit hat and pants. So what do I do? Nothing. I couldn't think of a way to say hello that did not seem weird and stalkerish. So I told my non-knitting friend that I had recognized the family. I am not sure what was weirder to her, the fact that I saw and recognized Alison or that the knit blogging community exists or perhaps that I would not say hi. Oh well, maybe it was a weirdness trifecta.

By the way, this is my 100th post. I am thinking I should commemorate this in some way. How about first comment gets a gift of sock yarn from the crazy big stash? How about it? Any takers? Make sure to leave a breadcrumb trail or at least an email address so I can find out where to send it. Hey, let me know if you have a preference (Hand dyed versus machine, color).

done and undone

What's done? The pedicure socks are fini, but have not yet been gifted, I will write and post the pattern soon. The Naga sock is done and gifted, and posted on the recipient's blog!

I cast on for Baudelaire in an apple green opal uni. These are for my sockapalooza 4 partner, who turns out not to be the original person I was sent but someone very interesting. I was intimidated by her recent post showing a drawer full of hand knit socks. I feel like I am sending coal to Newcastle. But the Baudelaire pattern knits up pretty fast and it is looking great! I am about to start the heel of sock number 1!

We are going to the Boston area for the forth, leaving tomorrow AM. I am not ready, not close. The minivan looks like it has been taken over by squatters with a sweet tooth. I can't pack it up till I remove all the extraneous shit that is there. I love the blink ads about how to clean a car, but those folks have not met my car! I hope to take in a yarn store or two while I am in the Boston area, one is near where we are staying in Brookline! Am I sounding like I am off the yarn diet?

summer sucks

So Monday was my last day at work, and I also found out that DD 1 has strep. By Tuesday, it was clear that I also had strep. Several days of fever and chills foloow. Then I took DD2 and DS to the doctor because she complained of a sore throat. They are all on antibiotics although DD2 did not show positive for strep. Hey barkeep, a round of cefzil for the house.

I was supposed to drive to Philly today, but I can't see that being remotely safe. I am not sure if I will make it tomorrow. Time heals all, right?

How do you teach manners?

I try to teach my children to be civilized, some days it is hard. Today at the swim club we had a problem with the mommy's not wanting my child to share their child's toys. I know three is an uncivilized age and I know he is a bit wild but when the one mommy told me I needed to do something and I saw her friend (we'll just call them bitch and bigger bitch) wresting her son's toy from my son I was appalled. She actually said, these are ours we brought them from home. Well, where did she think the rest of the toys came from? We all bring things from home, but we still share. Usually if other kids play with my kids' stuff, I just let them know where to leave it when they are done.

The bigger bitch had been talking loudly about her son's need for pt, ot and speech - all I could think was this was a bad enough example for a typical child let alone a kid with special needs. My friend walked by and found them bitching about me, and commented that not only were they not nice but they were caught being rude. I would have cancelled my membership on the spot if it hadn't been for the two nice moms who made a point to come over and tell me how appalled they were. I still don't know if I can hang out there every day this summer and face that! I just don't know how I can tell my child that he must share nicely with other kids but that he must not touch the toys at the pool.

Let me share a happy amazing thing. I was going to post the new firebird color of STR that I received on Wednesday, but saw that someone had already knitted hers up and boy are they gorgeous. I will now humbly link to Nicole. I bow to her knitting speed!

new sock

This is the first pedicure sock, made with yarn dyed by my daughter for our dear friend from a made up pattern, now on to the second sock. I always forget to write the patterns as I make them up so the second sock is always a challenge. In this case the gauge seems slightly looser on the second sock. I'll have to get my foot model (aka dd #1) to test drive the second sock which is done up to the heel turn.

On a personal note, I finished up at work this week and I am hugely sad to be leaving this school. It was great to be back using my clinical brain, and I really enjoyed the kids. It makes me realize that I have no great interest in working with typically developing kids. To walk into an established team and have people welcome you and your input is amazing. I am glad I didn't get weepy on the way out. I got lovely cards and a few gifts. I will never again think that acknowledging the end of the school year does not matter to the school staff. Now on to the task of looking for permanent employment!

Guess who's been knitting

I just realized how long it has been since I have posted any knitting. So I have finished a pair of socks using the Naga pattern, which I linked in a previous post. I added a picot cast off, my new current obsession. The yarn is flamingo by opal.

The second shot is the beginning of a pedicure sock, which I am designing as I go. The plan is to end with k2tog yo picot edge (as opposed to the picot cast off which involves lots of cable cast-ons). Then I am going to make a little i-cord thong thing for between the big toe and its little friends. The yarn was hand dyed by my six year old daughter.

Another knitting related item. I tried to break my yarn diet by ordering from marianne's opalwolle in Germany. She has gorgeous undyed yarns, including a bamboo blend sock yarn. She has opal patterns that probably will never make it here. I haven't bought a single skein since before January 2007. Needless to say, I tried to order more than a single skein but somehow never got the thing from paypal to pay. As soon as that happens I guess I officially broke my diet. Oh, well- its the longest I have ever gone on any sort of diet!

Off the knitting thread, I was a little gathering this weekend with lovely women from my area. There was jewelry selling and wine drinking going on. I tried really hard to not be my usually strident self, but eventually I erupted. What set me off was listening to these lovely, well-educated women talk about how great our local school system is based on statistics. I couldn't hold back. How great do the school have to be to educate a bunch of privileged white children being raised in a community where more than 60% of homes have one advanced degree? Show me those stats in a city school where the homes do not average 3000 square feet, then I will be impressed. As someone who works in a school, I can't buy accepting the whole statistic thing without questioning it. I asked one mom who was talking about the great curriculum if she knew what the town's educational goals for kindergarten were. She did not, nor was she aware that there is no gifted intervention until middle school. I do not wonder why I don't get invited out more! I realize that I am by no means the world's easiest human. I am glad that there are people who get it and get me or it would be hard living in the blinding whiteness of this area.

redo photo

I just realized what a bad photo I posted. This is much better!

Mary's big day

My daughter had her graduation from primary (aka kindergarden). At the risk of sounding immodest, she looked so cute. Her behavior and that of her brother were less than cute. The nadir of the day was when George lifted the back of my skirt up so that I essentially mooned all of the Cobb school. Ahh, good times.

On the craft front, I finished a painting this week for a little guy who likes outer space. Hope he likes it, I liked painting it. I got a little carried away. There was glow in the darlk paint involved. Hehe.

my latest obsession

Well, just when I thought that I could go no further with my knitting obsession I joined a group that blows me away! The German sock knitters group is beyond belief. I joined thinking I could use my bad grad school German reading to understand but its more than a little over my head. I can say that language barrier or no its great fun to just check out the blog links. I have seen some great socks and some awesome dying. And just when I thought it couldn't be better, I realized that many Europeans understand some English and have gotten some great email from members of the group.

I have been proud of the fact that I have bought NO yarn since the beginning of the year, but I have been finding some amazing stuff from the SKL. If these vendors ship to the US my yarn diet is doomed. I consider it a bad sign that I have emailed one vendor, the diet is circling the drain.

not that I am vain

I want a photo on my profile and this cockamaimie blogger thing says first I have to post a photo. So this was taken on a rare good hair day. I have a bad edit gene and end up erasing all images if myself, after 9-11 I tried to stop because I was worried that if I died somehow my kids would have no clue what I looked like. But yet I delete, in a ballsy move for me - I will keep my hands away from the delete key. You should see, its like the scene in Dr. Strangelove, one arm is pulling the other away from the delete key.

Any bets about whether from this point I can figure out how to get this connected to my profile?

the cutest sock pal

Painting by Mary age 6

Painting by George age 3

Painting by Sophie almost 11

George and the stars from his class

I just checked out my sockapalooza 4 pal and she's a 17 year old from finland! I love young knitter except they make me feel like an old knitter.

In other craft news I have taken leave of my senses and am allowing 4 kids ages 10 through 3 to paint with acrylics in my house. I am sure I will live to regret this but the paintings rock. I will post pics later.